The present invention is related to a level having a laser beam source which projects a selectively configurable beam onto a surface remote from the level for interrelating the orientation of the level with respect to a location on the remote surface.
The prior art literature describes levels having a laser beam generator mounted therein for projecting a light beam to a surface remote from a reference surface on which the level is placed so as to interrelate the orientation or position of the reference surface with the remote surface. Levels with built-in lasers are also commercially available. A limitation of many such prior art levels with built-in lasers is that the laser emits a collimated beam that projects only a point of light onto the remote surface. A simple point of light projected onto a remote surface transfers relatively little information about the reference surface. For the most part, a point of light only transfers, or interrelates, the position of the reference surface onto the remote surface; it does not transfer, or interrelate, the orientation of the reference surface with respect to the remote surface. For example, a point of light will not provide a reference that indicates an orientation that is parallel or perpendicular with respect to the orientation of the reference surface engaged by the body of the level.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,637 describes a level which carries a laser internally thereof and which includes a beam splitter which splits the beam from the laser into two or more beams oriented transversely (e.g., orthogonally) to each other to project a point of light onto different remote surfaces oriented transversely to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,031 describes a level having a laser carried internally thereof in a rotatable mounting so that a laser beam can be emitted from the level at a user-selected, variable angle to project a point of light to a desired remote surface and at a selected angle with respect to the level.
While these levels may provide a point of light reference on a remote surface and may be capable of projecting that point of light at variable angles with respect to the level or to project multiple points of light simultaneously, they do not transfer the orientation of the level or the reference surface onto the remote surface.
It has been known that the orientation of the reference surface can be projected onto a remote surface by configuring the laser beam as a cross-hair beam with transversely intersecting lines of light being projected onto the remote surface. One line can, for example, be oriented so as to be parallel to the reference surface on which the level is resting and the intersecting line can be oriented so as to be perpendicular to the reference surface. The position of the level and reference surface on which the level rests is transferred by the point of intersection of the lines.
Although a laser beam configured as a cross-hair is desirable and advantageous in many instances, there are times when it is unnecessary and undesirable, and a simple point beam is preferable. For example, the more concentrated light of a point beam can be projected for greater distances in comparison with a split beam.
Heretofore, laser levels having cross-hair beam splitting capability have required disassembly in order to reconfigure the emitted laser beam as a point beam and vice versa. For example, to achieve a split beam from a point beam source, a laser lens housing assembly must be opened and a beam splitting lens inserted therein. To resume point beam projection, the housing must be again opened and the beam-splitting lens removed. Therefore, a need exists for not only a level having a laser projecting a beam that can be configured as a cross-hair beam, but also one that can also selectively project a point light beam if desired, without requiring disassembly of the laser lens assembly.
It is an object of the invention to provide a level that includes a laser light source that can be easily converted between a point beam and a cross-hair beam. To achieve this object, the level of the present invention comprises a body having a body surface constructed and arranged to be engaged with a reference surface, a body orientation indicator, a laser beam source, a laser beam configuring lens, and a manually engageable lens switch. The body orientation indicator is carried by the body and is constructed and arranged to indicate an orientation of the body and hence an orientation of the reference surface when the body surface is engaged therewith. The laser beam source is carried by the body and is constructed and arranged to emit a laser beam from the body to a location on a surface remote from the body, the laser beam being directed at a predetermined orientation with respect to the body to interrelate the orientation of the body, and hence the orientation of the reference surface with which the body surface is engaged, with respect to the location on the surface remote from the body. The laser beam configuring lens assembly is carried by the body and movable between a first position and a second position with respect to the laser beam source. The laser beam configuring lens assembly splits the laser beam emitted by the laser beam source into a cross-hair beam configuration when the laser beam configuring lens is in the first position, and enables the beam to be transmitted as a point beam that projects a point of illumination onto the remote surface when the laser beam configuring lens assembly is in the second position. The manually-engageable lens switch is carried by the body and is coupled to the laser beam configuring lens assembly. The lens switch is manually movable to move the laser beam configuring lens assembly between the first and second positions thereof.
Other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation of the invention and the function and interrelation of the elements of structure, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this disclosure, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures.